1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, in general, to financial document processors and, more specifically, to apparatus and methods for inscribing data on checks and deposit slips.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Financial transaction documents, such as checks, are often subjected to various types of processing by the bank where the documents are first deposited. In the case of checks, the checks are processed to inscribe the currency amount of the check, and other data, at particular locations on the check and in a particular format. This operation enables the check amounts to be automatically read by reader/sorter equipment as the checks are subsequently sent through the clearing process of the commercial banking network. There are various types of systems and equipment which can perform this type of inscribing operation.
One version of equipment conventionally used for this purpose requires operator feeding of a deposit ticket or check into the apparatus and keying in the amount on the document. The checks are inscribed with the amount as they are keyed in by the operator. If the deposit amount and the total of the inscribed amounts of the checks following the deposit ticket agree, the deposit is considered balanced, or in banking terminology "proved." If the deposit does not balance, this method of check inscribing has the disadvantage that the operator must manually examine the deposit ticket and each item of the deposit to locate and correct the error. The correction is time consuming because a special re-inscribing operation is required to physically change the incorrectly inscribed amounts on the checks. Usually, this requires that a sticker be placed over the incorrectly inscribed data and that the correct data be inscribed on the sticker.
Another type of check processing equipment has been used in the prior art which overcomes some of the disadvantages of the previously described system. This equipment uses an image of the check and deposit ticket to aid in the inscribing and balancing operations. First, the checks are automatically fed through a document processing machine which captures the images of the documents and also reads the codeline data. The codeline data identifies each item and is used by the check system in subsequent processing. The images are stored and used for identifying the check amounts by character recognition or by operator keying from a display. The images can also be used to assist the operator in reconciling any balancing problems. After the deposit is balanced, the operator refeeds the documents through the same, or different, transport to sequentially inscribe the amount values on the documents. This second pass is referred to as the "power encoding" step. This two-pass approach has the disadvantages of requiring additional handling of the documents, which reduces operator productivity, and increasing the occurrence of document sequencing errors.
Since these types of devices present unique problems in productivity and operation, it is considered advantageous to balance and inscribe check deposits without the problems associated with these devices. Therefore, it is desirable, and an object of this invention, to provide a financial document processing system which increases operator productivity and eliminates the need to correct inaccurately inscribed amount values on the documents.
There are several United States patents which relate to this type of apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,846, issued on Apr. 8, 1980, is an example of a patent disclosing a document processing system. In this patent, the checks are processed, one at a time, for reading and data encoding. First, the check is read by a magnetic ink character reader (MICR) as the check is transported past a MICR device. Next, the individual check is temporarily stored in a holding station while the transport stops to communicate with the system, transmit all of the read data to the data bank, and obtain the printing data. The transport then reverses its path and steps through the print station where the data is inscribed onto the check. After printing, the transport speeds up in the reverse direction and moves the check with the newly printed data through the read station again where the data is verified prior to diverting the document into a stacker station, or output bin. This patented device differs from the present invention in that the patented device does not process a group of checks for a balance total, does not inscribe the checks after the balance has been proved, and does not contain a holding station or buffer which stores all of the checks in the group being balanced before the inscribing operation. The apparatus disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,196,846 does not prevent inaccurately inscribed amounts which must be corrected.